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City may hire more inspectors

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
11/15/2012 07:35:20 AM EST

LOWELL -- The city's Development Services department has seen major personnel changes this fall with the departure of its director and two building inspectors, all of whom are moving on to new jobs in other communities.

Meanwhile, the City Council has approved an amended rental-property ordinance that is expected to increase demand for inspections in coming years.

In light of the developments, City Councilors Ed Kennedy and John Leahy have called on City Manager Bernie Lynch's administration to evaluate whether more code-enforcement officials are needed.

That request, as well as the two councilors' motion asking Lynch to explore employing part-time inspectors, was approved by the City Council at a recent meeting.

Kennedy said if the city is going to properly enforce the rental-property ordinance, which requires rental units to be inspected every three years, it needs to have the proper complement of inspectors.

There are more than 21,000 rental units in the city, according to the 2010 Census, so the city could have to inspect more than 7,000 units a year under the amended rental law.

Leahy said he wants to make sure there are enough inspectors to respond to different needs in the neighborhoods, such as failing porches or illegal signage.

"I think these inspectors should not be stuck in the office with paperwork, they should be out and about in the neighborhood while working," Leahy said. "We need enough inspectors so that can happen.

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Assistant City Manager Adam Baacke said current staffing levels are adequate to cover all basic inspection requirements and responses to complaints and violations. Proactive inspection activity has also increased in recent years, he said.

Development Services typically employs a building commissioner, plans examiner, three to four local building inspectors, a plumbing-and-gas inspector, a wire inspector, a senior sanitary code-enforcement inspector and five sanitary code-enforcement inspectors. The deputy director of the department is not involved with inspections.

The city also already has two building inspectors, two wire, and two plumbing-and-gas inspectors that serve as on-call back-up inspectors as needed.

But Baacke acknowledged there are areas where the city's current workforce may not be sufficient to address public demand for inspection services.

He cited the amended rental-property ordinance, requests for evening and weekend code enforcement, expected additional construction activity as the economy improves, and proactive inspections encouraged by amendments to the building code.

To help with enforcing the rental-property ordinance, the city is considering adding one sanitary-code inspector in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The salary would be paid for by increased fee revenue generated from enforcing the ordinance, said Baacke.

The city is negotiating with the inspectors union to convert the building inspector positions to Local Inspector/Plans Reviewer positions at increased salaries while reducing the number of inspectors from five to four.

If construction activity increases, the city will likely respond with additional hours for on-call inspectors.

A decision to add evening or weekend hours would need to be made in tandem with the City Council, said Baacke.

The city has already filled one of the open positions in the department and is working to fill two others, said Baacke.

Kendra Amaral was deputy director of Development Services prior to leaving in October to become assistant town manager in Wilmington. Baacke anticipates making a hiring recommendation to Lynch for the position soon.

Certified building inspectors Mark Robidoux and David Fuller also departed from the city this fall.

The city has hired Christopher McWhite, a certified building inspector, to fill one of the open inspector positions. Baacke said the city has completed interviews for the second vacancy and hopes to fill that position soon.

Leahy and Kennedy also asked for an update on the certification status of the city's code inspectors.

All inspectors have full certification except for Building Inspector Shaun Shanahan, who has yet to pass the third of three tests to obtain state certification.

Shanahan has received his second six-month extension from the state to complete the commercial building-inspector test.

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